Traitors in Blood
by Patchverse-SheCat
Summary: Lady Deathstrike teaches her daughter SheCat (OC) that family means more than just blood. (My first fic ever, R&R please!)
1. Prologue

It was the middle of lunch at Xavier's Institute of Higher Learning, and everyone was in the cafeteria shoving food down their throats and laughing and joking. Well, almost everyone.  
  
Due to the borrowed trenchcoat and the shadows cast by the dormitory hallway, SheCat was extremely difficult to see. Curled up with this rather hot article of clothing, not to mention the red and yellow T-shirt beneath and the cutoff jeans, she was beginning to feel the effects of the lack of air conditioning. Still, she remained motionless, her only movement the erratic beating of her heart and the even more unusual rising and falling of her chest.  
  
Kurt Wagner had known she was there since he had heard her screaming at the occupant of another room. He sensed she had not moved since breakfast. His spaded tail fidgeted slightly; he did not know what her reaction to his consolation might be. As he opened the door to the hallway, light from the window in his room lit up her cheek. A glitter on that cheek told him she was more upset than he'd thought.  
  
Kurt closed the door quietly behind him; the light fell away and left her in shadow again. He stood in front of her, then crouched to her eye level. His flexible spine allowed him to achieve the perfect position; he was looking straight at her face.  
  
She wasn't looking at him, or even past him. Her eyes were open, yet he knew she wasn't seeing anything. Tears had collected on her lower lashes; some had fallen down her cheeks, over the parallel scars. Both Kurt and SheCat were in shadow, and to see them would mean waiting until they moved. His blue skin blended in with the dark like the trenchcoat.  
  
He reached his tridactyl hand to her face and started wiping away the tears. From that moment she seemed to wake up, and stared at him directly. Her green and gold eyes met his yellow, and in a heartbeat he understood her pain.  
  
SheCat was watching him, feeling his hand brush her face. His furred face had some kind of sweetness to it. For so long she had looked at him as a friend. Now she looked at him as a brother, a guardian. Before she had never truly listened to him. Now she was, every soft prayer for her he said. She couldn't discern what he said; it was in German. But she felt what he was conveying, a warm sense of trust. And then the questions arose.  
  
Why had she been so primed to explode? Why hadn't she expected this? Why did she have to always have one-sided romances? Why did she have to yell like that? Why did Rogue have to come along and wreck her life? Why did Remy have to fall in love Rogue, after all SheCat had done for him?  
  
A small sob arose from her throat, choked by a small gasp. Kurt moved to her side and leaned against the wood wall beside her. His tail wrapped around her waste to pull her closer. He lent his head against hers in a comforting fashion, his dark indigo curls versus her soft brown. She felt a swell of safety and hope. Some things were out of her hands; she'd make best with what was.  
  
When Kurt finally left, SheCat stayed for a few minutes. The sun was setting and cast light of brilliant reds in the hall. That red caught her cheek; it was finally dry. 


	2. Fragile as Glass

(She was running along a highway at night. She was scared and cold and wearing that borrowed trenchcoat. She kept running and not going anywhere. She looked at her hands and they weren't fingers anymore. They were claws, coming from the tips, a full foot long, and she cried. She wiped away the tears but they were blood. She screamed for help but the sound was animal and then she was in pain all over, twisting, writhing, shrieking, screaming, dying...Then she woke up.) SheCat's dream, August 22nd.  
  
SheCat was calmly stretched on her bunk, letting herself sink deep into the blankets. As she focused her hearing, she registered the faint scratching of a pencil on paper above her. Rogue, on the top bunk, finishing geometry homework. The faint bass alerted her that Katherine, also known as Kitty, was listening to music via headphones again. Julie and Paige were gone, roaming somewhere in the school. Jean was teaching her extra-help class. The dorm was next to silent. It was a moment of peace (and Saltines) much appreciated.  
  
A light knock woke her from her semi-catatonic state. SheCat put away the Saltines and opened the door to her friend and room-mate Strobe. Strobe, with a quick toss of her luxurious blond hair, entered.  
  
"What's up, dude?" For almost five years Strobe hadn't changed that catchphrase.  
  
"Shhhh, certain people want to enjoy peace." SheCat giggled, motioning towards Kitty and Rogue. At the same time she turned on the radio to a country radio station at full volume.  
  
Rogue truly didn't seem to mind. Shadowcat shuddered a second, then stormed out of the room.  
  
"Is it too much to ask to have just a bit of, like, downtime without that totally retarded music?!?!" Shadowcat slammed the door behind her.  
  
As soon as Kitty left, SheCat turned off the radio. Settling herself on the lower bunk with Strobe, she readied herself for another grueling lesson in emotion. Why did Strobe always bring certain subjects up?  
  
"How're you doing? You've been kinda edgy since your power went all fritzo like that." Strobe was wading in dangerous water. SheCat was a bit unsettled after certain incidents.  
  
"I'm fine, just fine. I've been able to lift my sword lately." Focusing on a sabre on the other side of the room, she held out her hand and summoned the sword to her. It levitated a few feet off the ground and floated to her. SheCat stood in fencing position and twirled the blade expertly between her fingers. She was a true master of this weapon, thanks to private lessons from Kurt.  
  
"I wasn't talking about your teke. I was talking about him." Strobe didn't know when to let a subject go, even when Rogue was perched directly above them. She twiddled a spark of light in her fingers, predicting SheCat's answer.  
  
"Drop it, Strobey. You know I'm still, you know. And he, never mind. And it's not teke, it's molecular interference." Strobe was a bit off. She had expected something more lighthearted than "Drop it".  
  
SheCat paced across the room, levitated the sword back into position, then got a glass of water from the sink. Rogue continued to study, oblivious to the conversation.  
  
Strobe moved to the desk in the corner of the room, sat on its corner. SheCat followed suit, though she took the chair instead.  
  
About that time there was a knock on the door, then it opened. Remy stood there, poking his head in, then striding in to the bunk on which Rogue perched. Rogue looked up, smiled at him and dismounted the bed. Remy tousled her white on brown hair. SheCat turned adamantly away, squeezing her glass of water till it cracked. Strobe watched SheCat, sensing trouble.  
  
"Ready ta go, chere? I got some reservations." Remy held Rogue's gloved hands and started to lead her out when a crack, then a shatter, rang throughout the room.  
  
SheCat gave a little shriek as the glass she was holding exploded beneath the pressure of her hands, then moved her hand to her face with a pained look. Her hand was bloody; shards of glass littered the table. Remy ran over.  
  
SheCat used her 'molecular interference' to remove the glass from her hand and move the sharper shards to the trashcan. Remy then checked her hand for any stray glass, poking and prodding as she winced, then wrapped it up in a small cloth.  
  
"It wouldn't have hurt so bad if you'd just wrapped it up from the start." SheCat wasn't talking about her hand. Remy understood. Rogue and Strobe didn't.  
  
"Had to make sure it was okay. It'll heal now." He spoke softly, and she sensed care in his voice, a slight trace of concern. He wasn't talking about the cuts either.  
"Yeah, it'll heal now." She smiled. 'I'll be fine."  
  
Rogue tapped impatiently at her watch. Remy glanced at her, then followed her out the door, trenchcoat swishing 'round his ankles. Rogue called back. "See you soon! Hope your hand heals!" and SheCat sensed actual sincerity in her voice.  
  
Strobe started rooting through her backpack for a pencil. "Now are you fine?"  
  
"Yeah. If you'll excuse me..." SheCat left Strobe in the room, ran into Shadowcat in the hall, made a quick apology for previous behavior, dodged a heavy book thrown in her direction. She stopped at door 28B, knocked on the wood. Kurt opened the door, his indigo curls falling neatly over his eyebrows.  
  
"Yes, Liebchen?"  
  
"Can I come in?"  
  
"Of course." Kurt led her in. She sat at the edge of the bed; he took a comfortable chair near the fireplace. He looked at her, yellow eyes watching her. Had it only been a week ago she was crying in the halls? She looked far more adult now.  
  
"Can I talk to you, Kurt? I need advice."  
  
(She was running again, only this time through a field. She was scared but not terrified. Then she fell into a hole and there was white all around and she landed in Remy's arms. She felt safe. She could feel his auburn hair brush her face as he carried her back to the mansion and laid her on her bunk. Then she woke up smiling.) SheCat's dream, August 23rd. 


	3. Girls Will Be Girls

(She was tied down on some kind of metal platform, spread-eagled. There were people around, milling and taking notes and getting weapons. She tried to move and couldn't. She tried to scream "Where am I? What are you doing?" and a man stepped out of the shadows, smiling. He spoke to her.  
  
"Do you really need to ask, Yuriko?"  
  
She tried again. "I'm not Yuriko, I'm SheCat! Let me go! I'm not Yuriko!" Then the knives came closer, medical razors and scalpels. She began to plead. "Oh god, please don't. Please.". Then they tore her apart.  
  
"Aaargh! God! Stoppit! Stop! Aaah! Please stop! Make it Stop!"  
  
"SheCat! SheCat, wake up! It's a dream! SheCat!"  
  
She woke up when Jean Grey shook her and yelled at her) -SheCat's dream August 24th.  
  
Strobe, Julie, Paige and SheCat were goofing off, as is common among teens, during lunch. They were laughing and talking and putting their powers to a more domestic use. Paige had now changed her outer layer of skin into a beautiful abalone, hoping for a stray glance from Neal Shaara. Julie was being her typical self, talking and chatting while still keeping an ear out for gossip. She was the hub, the axis, the center of all rumors. They came through her and she made them known.  
  
SheCat was only half listening, being more focused on making a toothpick dance across the table. Strobe both ate and listened, sometimes playing with a spark between her fingertips.  
  
A good looking boy by the name of Mark (but he was known as Aqua for his ability to create water) strode over to their table. His bleached hair was cut neatly, his eyes were blue and focused on one girl. He walked over to Strobe.  
  
"Hey there gorgeous. Want to meet me behind the fountain after this? Say, noon?"  
  
"Maybe so, handsome. I'll be there." Strobe was smitten. She then turned to her friends as Aqua left. All three had tongues out, eyebrows up.  
  
"Handsome? Gorgeous? You sound like a cheesy movie from the 70's!" Julie snickered.  
  
"Or worse, my parents." Was Paige's reply.  
  
SheCat responded the way she thought best, sneaking up behind Strobe with a full cup of vanilla pudding and smeared and glopped it all in that perfect blond hair.  
  
"FOOD FIGHT!" was the outcry from all four, and within minutes the entire lunchroom was squabbling and throwing and mashing and dripping.  
  
"It was worth it." SheCat sprawled on the bed. "Definitely worth it."  
  
"Three detentions! How can THAT be worth it?! And my good skirt is ruined!" Julie was not accustomed to detentions. The others ignored her outbursts. Paige (now a type of mica) and Strobe were studying; SheCat busied herself with sword practice. Julie sat down sulking.  
  
SheCat used a mirror during practice to study her form and its flaws. Now, though, it reminded her that she was the ugly duckling in the group. Julie was gorgeous, Chinese, elegant. Paige could have been a supermodel. And Strobe was an entirely different matter. She was the most beautiful girl in the school, the kind boys drooled over. And then there was SheCat. Pretty, but in a mild way. Green-gold eyes, brown hair, a little forelock falling above her right eye that never seemed to go away. Three scars, two on her cheek, one vertically over her right eye. A fairly nice body, but nothing extraordinary. Sighing, she reverted to practicing Bonetti defense.  
  
Julie poked her head over Paige's binder, looking at the heart with NS+PG written in cursive inside. She smirked. Paige was never going to get Neal, but she could let her dream.  
  
SheCat ceased bladework and foraged in her backpack for snacks and homework. She settled on her bed with Cheezits and a mechanics workbook. Strobe dismounted her position on the top bunk and came down next to her. She caught a flash of the books inner cover: RLB+SC in a heart. Girls were all alike inside.  
  
(She was tied down again, they were tearing her apart again, she was screaming again. The table she was on suddenly lowered and jerked her and she hit her head. She saw the man who had spoken before; he dangled something in front of her, an abalone and mica flower pendant on a string. Then the string broke and it fell in her mouth and she was choking on the pendant and couldn't spit it out. She woke up with an eraser in her mouth on the floor.) SheCat's dream August 25th. 


	4. Essence of Nightmares

"SheCat, wake up! For God's sake, are you okay?" Jean was shaking SheCat as she chokingly spit out the eraser. SheCat was exhausted, like she'd just run a marathon. Her hair (still in a ponytail, she slept that way) fell kind of awkwardly on her shoulders. Jean held her close. As a rule, every dorm had at last one X-Man or X-Woman in it. Jean was in theirs, but the new X-Woman Sage might move in too.  
  
"You were screaming and choking and thrashing. Are you okay?" Jean was concerned. SheCat had never been her best student, but they had been in the same dorm for the last four years.  
  
SheCat managed to nod. No way she was going to get any sleep now. Might as well think it over.  
  
When Jean was satisfied that SheCat was fine, she returned to her bunk and tried to sleep. SheCat sat up in her bunk, her head lightly bumping against the top bunk's underside. Second time in two days. What was it about? Who was Yuriko anyway? She didn't know any Yuriko's.  
  
Sleep never claimed her that night. She was up until four a.m. thinking, then headed down for an early breakfast of sausages and eggs (courtesy of Logan).  
  
"I didn't know you could cook." She had the inane ability to never appear tired. In fact, she became even more active when she hadn't slept.  
  
"You wanna make something of it? Just eat it." Logan was not a morning person. And ticking him off wasn't advised, since he could pop three claws out of his hand at a moments notice.  
  
Claws. SheCat shivered. The prospect of claws hit a nerve, but she didn't know what.  
  
Kurt was also up early, eating the sausages and eggs without complaint or compliment. He and Logan weren't the best of friends.  
  
"Nightmare, yes, Liebchen?" His eyebrows raised at her early morning appearance. Usually the sound of Jean trying to drag her out of bed for class resounded throughout half the mansion.  
  
"Yeah, if that's whatcha want to call it. And Logan, this food is actually quite good." A grunt from Logan. Unappreciative kids. They didn't respect him enough. He'd show them as soon as they got to gym class.  
  
"What about?" Kurt, having suffered many nightmares before, didn't like the prospect of one of his good friends suffering them too.  
  
"I...don't know." She was fully aware of Logan's senses, and figured her dream must have been similar to his past. Maybe that was the basis for her dream; she had served detention with him that evening before bed.  
  
"Maybe you should talk to the professor. " Kurt had been the one to find SheCat and Strobe, while in the city looking for mutant recruits for the school. Both girls had been in the alleyway, filthy and sleeping, and neither even seemed surprised by his appearance. Strobe, because she knew more about mutants than any other girl in her position. SheCat, because she naturally wasn't surprised or afraid of much.  
  
"No, it was just a fluke. I'm fine, really." SheCat liked Kurt. He was nice. Too old for her, though. She was still only a teenager.  
  
"Vell, maybe it has something to do with certain men in the vicinity..." He knew of her idolic obsession over Remy. He pitied her for it. She was wasting her time on that one.  
  
"You cheeky blue angel, of course it doesn't." She finished her breakfast. "If you must know, it has something to do with someone called Yuriko."  
  
Logan started. Neither Kurt nor SheCat noticed.  
  
Later that day, Jean came up to SheCat.  
  
"You have mail."  
  
"What? But I don't have any relatives or outside friends."  
  
Jean shrugged and handed her a box. It was small enough to fit in her palm, white, plain. On it was written SHECAT, then in little writing in the corner near the stamp Y.O.  
  
"Well, thanks. Ms. Grey."  
  
Jean left. SheCat opened the box. Inside, nestled among  
  
tissue paper, was a tiny, broken abalone and mica pendant in the shape of a flower. 


	5. The Swordmistress

The pendant was a white plumeria, constructed of abalone with a mica center, with a silver backing and hook. It was broken; half the silver in the back was twisted or torn off and a long crack ran down across the center. It was cold in her palm.  
  
SheCat had no idea about anything. She was clueless as to who sent it. She had no living relatives and all her friends were inside the school. As to the fact it had appeared in her dream, she had guesses for that. It was possible that she had a second mutation, possibly precognition. It didn't truly occur to her that the pendant in her dream was unbroken, nor did it occur to look at the stamp.  
  
Hearing the sound of children coming down the stairs into the hallway, she haphazardly stuffed the pendant into her pocket and caught her breath as Kurt bamfed to the top of the lockers. It was a position that reminded her of a gargoyle, stooped over above her. Then of some kind of demigod, watching over her. She smiled.  
  
"We had a fencing lesson, yes, Liebchen? In the Danger Room?" He was already all decked out in his uniform, with his cutlass sheath at his back, sword in hand.  
  
"Yeah, hang on a second." She focused on her sword upstairs.  
  
SheCat could sense sharp objects. Not as if she could see them, just know where they were. Focusing hard, the sword came through the ceiling, leaving a sizeable gash to the floor upstairs.  
  
"'Kay, now I'm ready." She was decked in uniform as well, but hers was none that the other X-Men wore. There was no Spandex or leather or any material of that kind. It was a red and yellow T-Shirt and cutoff jeans. When it got cold she switched to full length jeans. She was most comfortable (and agile) in this unorthodox attire.  
  
Kurt looked at the ceiling, muttering something about repairs and slashes in the floor, then bamfed. SheCat walked down the hall to the Danger Room.  
  
Kurt was pleased to realize his pupil was not entirely focused on the duel. She was faster when she didn't concentrate on stance or form, more fluid when relying on instinct. It actually made the match almost fair. Almost.  
  
He could've disarmed her in an instant, after spotting her many tiny quirks. She leaned after a swipe; the parry brought her back. Her Cappa Ferro twisted her wrist too much.  
  
"You are improving, Liebchen." he said, taking a swipe at her as she dodged. She loved him calling her Liebchen. Though he called many of the students that, ever time she heard it, it was as if the name was especially for her, like he had just thought of it off the top of his head.  
  
"Thank you. I hope to one day-" Parried a block, returned a thrust and sidestepped "be as good as you are." Changed stance, locked blades, broke the connection and barely avoided a thrust.  
  
"Maybe someday, but you have a way to go." He transferred his sword to his tail and whipped it at her ankles. She blocked, but barely; her sword flew from her hand. Without thinking, she mentally commended it back to her. It was back in her hands like lightning.  
  
Kurt frowned, then bamfed directly behind her. With a whip of his tail, he disarmed her, then used his arms to lock her head in place. It was a hold that would prove very difficult to break free from.  
  
"We agreed no powers, Liebchen." He let her go. She commanded her sabre back to her, readied herself for a second round. In response, he sheathed his.  
  
"You must learn not to be so impulsive." His voice was that of a teacher or father reprimanding a child. She hung her head in defeat. Instantly a wave of pity swept over him. He embraced her with forgiveness. "You are still young, Liebchen. You will learn with time."  
  
"X-Men trainees and Combat Team K report to Cerebro immediately." Xavier's voice was in their heads. It wouldn't be an important mission, not if trainees were involved, and Team K was not the strongest of teams. It would probably be some dumb recruit mission.  
  
Though Team K was buffed by Kurt, Remy and Rogue, it didn't override the fact that most of the members were trainees, inexperienced and barely taught under real pressure. Just simulations, mainly, and a few recruit missions. SheCat herself was part of the team, though her hotheadedness and thirst for revenge were more of a liability than an asset.  
  
Sighing that the lesson was over, she followed Kurt out of the Danger Room, wondering whether she had really been ashamed for her impulsiveness or had just needed a hug.  
  
"I want you all ready for action in ten minute. A young mutant's powers are just manifesting and you may need to stop a lynch mob. I want you to bring him back here. It should be simple. In and out, like you've done before. You can go." Xavier, despite being in a wheelchair, conveyed some type of authority that was not rebuked or rebelled against. Team K left, but SheCat stayed as Xavier had telepathically told her to.  
  
"SheCat, there was a fax for you. It asked to meet at sundown tonight at the Rose Plaza. It asked for you to come alone. I'm not pushing you, but would you feel safe doing this?" His lips weren't moving, but it still took seconds to register that he was projecting these words into her mind.  
  
"Do you have any idea who this is?" Though she looked genuinely worried, he knew she couldn't care in the slightest, as long as she got to get out on a real mission.  
  
"No." A firm answer.  
  
"Couldn't you use Cerebro?" Act interested, she thought. Then go out and do something.  
  
"No." Another firm answer. She wasn't taking this seriously. Maybe he should send someone with her.  
  
"I'll do it."  
  
"Good. You can walk there from here. You know the place, you've been there. Take a comm-link with you and phone Team A in case of emergency. Don't jump to conclusions, don't hesitate to use the comm-link, don't do anything stupid, and don't tell whoever it is anything that could be potentially dangerous." He was dead serious. She wasn't. She didn't realize that anyone who could avoid Cerebro's detection was some kind of force to be reckoned with.  
  
"There's a lot of don'ts in this mission, huh?" She picked up the comm-link and donned a pair of sunglasses. "My first solo mission. I feel like part of the mafia." She checked her sword and box of toothpicks before heading out. He called out after her.  
  
"SheCat!" She turned. "Be careful."  
  
"As always, Professor." She left. She was never careful and they both knew it.  
  
Waiting outside of the Rose Plaza was as boring as sin. SheCat had never been patient and it was at least an hour before the lady in the hood, trenchcoat and sunglasses approached.  
  
"SheCat, right? I'm Yuriko Oyama. Pleased to meet you." SheCat shivered, despite the balmy weather. Yuriko offered her hand. SheCat took it, noticing the grip was tight. The grip of a businesswoman.  
  
"What is it you wanted me for?" SheCat deliberately left her name out of the conversation.  
  
"I believe that we have some...ties. You see, I am missing some family very close to me." She took off the hood and shades, revealing a pretty Asian face and black hair pulled in a ponytail all too similar to SheCat's. There was a pause. Neither spoke. "Don't you recognize me?"  
  
SheCat had to be truthful. "Honestly, no."  
  
Yuriko looked resigned. She let out a sigh. "In that case you're not that much use to me at all." Then she lashed out. SheCat staggered back to avoid it, but someone grabbed her shoulders. Then there was pain.  
  
The world swam before her eyes as every solitary nerve was set alight. She reached for her sword, but the pain blocked her hands from moving. Her eyes rolled up, barely glimpsing the blond woman who held her. Yuriko moved forward and knocked her into the blissful depths of the unconscious.  
  
"What a waste of a daughter. Her skills rivaled that of a chipmunk."  
  
"She didn't seem that easy to neutralize, Miss. Her will was strong."  
  
Yuriko stepped forward to the blond woman and slapped her face. "Have you not learned that will is useless without talent?!"  
  
The blond woman dropped SheCat to the ground.  
  
"I'm sorry, Miss. What shall we do now?"  
  
Yuriko looked at the prone form on the cement. Her eyes gave a slight twitch that might have been emotion. They were obviously kin, you could see by the face, the way the eyes had defied pain, even when she was in agony. The way the hidden layers of psyche covered a drive for revenge.  
  
"I'll take her to the base. Catch up after. Meanwhile, phone in the X- Men and tell them that a life of one of their own is on the line, courtesy of Lady Deathstrike." 


	6. Lines of Loyalty

"WHAT!?!?" the cry was synchronized between Remy, Kurt and Strobe. To be said, Kurt's had the hint of a 'v' where the 'w' was, Strobe's was higher pitched and Remy slammed his hand on the table when he said it, but it stilled conveyed the same feeling: not on their mortal lives.  
  
"I'm sorry, but you can't put yourselves in danger like this. It's a trap and you know it." Xavier was trying to keep his students safe. Sometimes sacrifices must be made for the sake of the team.  
  
"No way we're leavin' her like dis!" Remy was in a violent state. Long ago, since SheCat had confided in him all her secrets, he had sworn to protect the girl who trusted him so.  
  
Paige, in contrast, was calm, but only in exterior. Mentally she was plotting all the ways to steal a jet, hotwire a car or swipe a helicopter. Anything to save her friend. Strobe was livid, as was Julie. Shadowcat and Rogue were stunned. Kurt was as mad as anyone there had seen him.  
  
"We're a team! We can't leave her to die at the hands of some psycho lady!" Strobe was remembering the times with SheCat, hitchhiking place to place. The times she let Strobe have the most food, gave her the solitary blanket they had. Strobe was bound to SheCat with devotion.  
  
"My Children, you must realize that you're putting yourselves in incredible danger. I won't let you do this." Xavier was against letting his students walk into certain death.  
  
"Screw you, Professor." And then Strobe walked out. Without a backwards glance, the rest of Team K followed.  
  
Meanwhile, SheCat was in a cage. The surrounding were filthy, the cage was grimy, and it was small enough to give her a crick in her neck. The bars were vertical, and SheCat felt like someone had beat her head in with a sledgehammer. No matter. SheCat had learned long ago to deal with pain. Pain was nothing. It was non-existent.  
  
She couldn't sense the sharp objects anymore. She figured she was under the influence of some drug that disabled her abilities. From her vantage point, which was minimal due to the fact that she couldn't turn her head, she was in a cement chamber of average size. There was a vent in the ceiling that let some air through, but it was humid air, and she figured she would get enough toxic gases in her to knock out an elephant if she tried to breath from it. To the left was a door; presently it opened.  
  
Yuriko waltzed in with the manner of someone who, as Gambit would say, "held all de cards".  
  
"Wow. Black leather. Real original." SheCat was definitely not in her best mood, and being sarcastic was her only outlet for her rage.  
  
"I trust you're comfortable." Yuriko saw SheCat's face, saw that, though cold and calculated, untold amounts of rage simmered just behind her eyes. A true-born fighter. Such a pity she would have to die.  
  
"Not exactly. Would you mind telling me what the heck this is about?" She adjusted her arm to give her shoulder a break. The cage was extremely uncomfortable.  
  
"You're in no position to ask questions." Yuriko crouched in from of the cage, stared into those green-gold eyes. To be honest, even with all her martial skill, she would not want to face this person in battle.  
  
"Since it's obvious you want to kill me anyway, I guess I can fire away anyway."  
  
"What does everyone want to do? Why is kidnap so strange to you?" Yuriko stared with equal intensity back.  
  
"Short of taking over the world? Kill the X-Men." SheCat's nature belied her true fears: they would come to help her and be killed trying.  
  
"Then you know my plan."  
  
SheCat spit in her face. Yuriko extended her claws like lightning and slid them under SheCat's throat.  
  
"Do you have a death wish?!" Her tone became serious. The claws forced SheCat's head back as far as it could go n the constraints of the cage.  
  
"Why do I care? No one else will." Yuriko sheathed her claws and SheCat's head fell back to a natural position. Yuriko stood up, glared at the figure in the cage and sneered.  
  
"They'll come for you, and they'll pay for it with their lives!" Then she strode out. SheCat lay in her cage and shivered. She understood now, the purpose of the pendant. It was a lure, like the fax. It had all been a trap. She couldn't let her friends risk their lives for her.  
  
Noting that her sword had been left in the corner, she began to examine the workings of the cage lock.  
  
"Don't anybody know how to fly a jet?!" A slight miscalculation in their plans. Nobody there could get a jet off the ground. Team K had assembled, stole into the jet, but now they were lost. Rogue was screeching at the top of her lungs, which wasn't helping anybody, while Remy and Kurt together attempted to find the way to get it off the ground. Strobe was checking the batteries for a fourth time, and the others were arguing about the whole thing.  
  
"Perhaps zis button can get us moving..." Kurt tried a button. The air conditioner turned on.  
  
"Where's Cyclops when you need him? I swear the manual for this piece of junk must be like a telephone book." Julie attempted to press another and a cigarette lighter popped out.  
  
"We could just take a car..." Paige looked on hopelessly.  
  
"DAT AINT GOOD ENOUGH!" Gambit slammed his bo-staff against the control panel in his insane fervor. Sparks splashed around like water, but a voice popped up saying "Auto-pilot set up. Destination?"  
  
Kurt fervently answered. Gambit grinned. Rogue grabbed his wrist and forced him into a seat, then took her own. The others followed suit.  
  
Paige started changing skins into steel. Gambit spasmodically charged cards in his trenchcoat pocket. Strobe flicked a nervous spark in her fingers. Kurt's tail twitched and lashed around. They were off. 


	7. Unearthing the Truth

From her cage, she noticed that there was a tank of gasoline by the door. Why was beyond her, but she noted that it could possibly be convenient. She had tried undoing the lock, but she needed something thin and long to snap it open. She could use a credit or playing card, if she had one. Instead she picked at it with the broken pendant, vainly attempting to break free and hoping that they wouldn't come for her.  
  
Outside, the jet touched ground. Team K was off before the ramp was even completely lowered.  
  
The base was a small, squat cement building. Yuriko and a blond woman were standing out in front. Almost immediately, a chill ran through the X- Men's bones, and they realized that their powers were rendered inactive. Reflexively, Remy reached for his cards, satisfied to feel they were still burning hot. Apparently it didn't affect already used powers, seeing Paige was still steel.  
  
Yuriko strode forward. Team K fidgeted nervously; should they strike? This wasn't supposed to happen.  
  
"Welcome to this mediocre little home. I am Yuriko and this young lady here is Pulsar. She has rendered your gifts inactive. She could also kill you, but I wouldn't want her to do that." Yet, Yuriko thought. "Maybe we can arrange a deal."  
  
Her tone was false. The X-Men weren't fooled. Pulsar opened the door and beckoned them in. The filed silently single file, totally against all instinct and training, obeying the rules of the enemy. Yuriko followed Shadowcat, last in line. Shadowcat kept looking behind her back at the Asian woman. She was nervous at the idea of having her back turned.  
  
The room was cement, and Pulsar led them to the next room, the room containing SheCat. Team K relaxed a little, seeing she was not in any immediate danger, then were back on alert, ready for any deal Yuriko could conjure. Yuriko began to speak, starting with the legacy of time and humanity. She sounded a lot like Magneto.  
  
SheCat saw them and her heart sank. Hoping against hope that Remy would notice her slight head gestures and intense stare, she was already forming a plan B.  
  
Gambit did notice, discreetly pulling a card from his pocket and nudging Kurt to move to the side. Kurt did, as suspiciously as possible, and both Yuriko and Pulsar's attention shifted to him. Meanwhile, Gambit threw the card lightly to SheCat, who caught it and began working the lock.  
  
"And so I've come to a decision. You could let her die like the cowards you are, or you could die with honor in her place. Either way, I win and you lose. It's all about bait. I baited her to use as bait for you, and you fell for it. I might as well be fishing." Yuriko didn't notice SheCat had escaped. Nor did she notice that she had retrieved her sword. She was basking in the incredible glory of winning, her first real triumph over the famed X-Men. It was a pleasurable moment up until the sabre passed through her chest.  
  
Yuriko dropped, and chaos broke out. Kurt lunged for Pulsar, but she sent out a pulse of energy that was so intensely painful that he fell in mid-jump. Shadowcat yelped, Julie screamed and toppled over, Paige stumbled and placed her hand against the wall while her vision swam. Remy hit his knees, attempted to use the bo-staff to rise, and hit his knees again. SheCat's sword fell from her nerveless hand and she hit the ground and twitched spasmodically. Strobe's eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed.  
  
Kurt was about a foot from her. He felt paralyzed by the intense pain in his body; it was everywhere. He couldn't move himself. Then Yuriko began to rise. Impossible, she had been run through. And yet she rose, weakly, but rising.  
  
It was that moment that was Kurt's motivation. Once Yuriko was strong it was all over. So his tail whipped out and snagged Pulsar's ankle, yanking her down and cracking her head fatally against the cement floor. The relief that followed could be described only as ecstasy, until Strobe cleared her head. Pulsar eliminated, her power had returned, and she sent a steady stream of electricity into Yuriko, laying her flat again.  
  
"Run! Get to the jet now!" The others scrambled for the exit. Strobe checked to see Yuriko was down, then started running herself.  
  
"It's locked!" Julie looked genuinely despaired. Kurt rammed into the door shoulder first, realized it was stuck tight, grabbed Julie and bamfed her out, then himself back in to get the next passenger.  
  
Shadowcat grabbed Remy and Rogue and walked them through the wall, then returned for Strobe. Kurt bamfed Paige out and returned. He didn't see Yuriko launch herself from the floor.  
  
SheCat ran to Kurt to escape, but suddenly pitched forward as Yuriko's weight slammed into her. Five claws drove through her back. One for her aorta, one for her left chamber, three between the ribs. Both crashed into the ground, and Yuriko clambered up and slung Kurt against the wall and broke the lock. Stars winged in his eyesight, and he tried to stand, but heard someone cry out.  
  
"Get down!"  
  
SheCat realized where the claws had gone. She knew she was dead the instant she hit the floor. She was face-up, unable to move, when she felt the playing card in her hand, still charged. One last cry to Kurt, one wrist flick to the gas tank, it would be over. If only she could move.  
  
She threw the card. 


	8. Samurai

Strobe didn't know what was happening when the building blew up behind her. There was a deafening boom, a wave of heat and force that knocked them to their knees, debris and dust winging itself around them, and a horrible wave of fear.  
  
Strobe cowered a second as the fiery heat subsided, then rose. Mentally she made a roster check: two missing, Kurt and SheCat. Reflexively wiping dust from the sides of her face, she called for them. Surely they were alright, they had covered explosions before in the Danger Room.  
  
"Kurt! SheCat!"  
  
The base had been reduced to rubble, with small spouts of flame darting like snake-tongues between cracks. Strobe came at last to realize the explosion had been worse than she had first thought. Her cries became frantic.  
  
"Kurt! SheCat! Where are you?!"  
  
A tall figure unearthed itself from under a pile of rubble. It was obviously Kurt, from the tail hanging limp, but outlines and silhouettes were all that the rising dust would allow to eyesight. He staggered a little, and Paige rushed forward to help him. He used his tail to prop himself up until Paige got to him, then fell into her arms. His uniform was smoldering and his ankle was twisted unnaturally, but he had avoided the major brunt of the explosion. Paige helped support him, seeing that he was both winded and wounded, then, when he was leaning safely against her, began to speak.  
  
"Wow. You look wasted." A nod from him, the slightest smile. Then, "Where's SheCat?"  
  
The dust didn't obscure the tears on his face, nor muffle Rogue's cry as she removed the body from the rubble.  
  
SheCat had always expected dying either being agonizing or completely without pain. As it turned out, it was neither.  
  
The explosion had hit her with a minor blow, mainly because, like Kurt, she had been lying down. It had just torn and burned the skin from her left arm and leg. But the work had been done by five adamantium claws. They hadn't hurt, but she had been almost incapable of movement. Then, in the heat she didn't feel, she had begun to sense a dull roar of pain in her body, and the fact that it was increasingly hard to see. Soon the world had bathed itself in white light and she was falling, feeling the red hot pain in her chest, not caring exactly where she was going.  
  
She hadn't screamed, hadn't cried or complained or begged for life. She had gone peacefully, accepting it every step of the way. Like warrior. Like a hero.  
  
She'd always wanted to be a hero.  
  
"No!" Remy rushed forward, pushing Julie over in the process, and knelt before the body. "No no no no!"  
  
Strobe, in turn, rushed forwards, grabbed SheCat's arm and checked for a pulse. None. Rubbing her hands together to generate electricity, she brought them down on SheCat's chest with a loud "CLEAR!". A shock of electricity rushed through her hands; there was a thump and SheCat's body lifted from the electricity. Strobe checked the pulse again. Nothing. She tried again. And again.  
  
Paige, supporting Kurt, was in a state of shock. She had never had to endure the death of a friend. Her life had been easy; her mother and father were tolerant of her mutation, she had been asked to enroll in Xavier's before her gift even manifested. She had lived off a life of peace; reality was a harsh wake-up call. She was in denial.  
  
Julie buried her tear-streaked face in Kitty's shoulder, who was also in a state of denial. Kitty had had to live with that annoying runt for four years, and yet now she felt that she had never even known her. What she would give for a second chance.  
  
Rogue knelt by Remy, placed a gloved hand on his shoulder. She understood his pain. He had sworn to protect her, he had loved her like a sister. And in her one time of need he had been unable to interfere.  
  
Strobe kept trying vainly, thinking only of channeling her energy. In times of grief she would avoid pain at any cost.  
  
SheCat felt a vague sense of hurt, coming through her entire body, coupled with a muffled "CLEAR!". Her brain felt fuzzy; she should know what it was but she didn't. Moreover, the more she thought about it the less she cared.  
  
Her falling ended suddenly. She landed on ground with her knees, sending spurts of pain through her thighs.  
  
It was a field, spreading out over a vast expanse as far as her vision could see. It looked as if it had been bleached; it was white and grey and held within the flora the palest of blues, lavenders and greens. A feeling of peace washed throughout her, coloring her like watercolor. She could run now, like she would never stop. The wind was at her back and she had nowhere else to go. So she ran. She didn't care where she was going.  
  
In his comparatively few years as an X-Man, Kurt had seen very few lives ripped suddenly away, even less done so intentionally. He didn't know it was the claws that had done the work, just believed it was the explosion, a final kamikaze act.  
  
His eyes roamed from where Strobe had accepted defeat and had begun weeping into her hands, to where Gambit was vainly attempting CPR, blood staining his trenchcoat, to the adamantium skeleton that lay among the ruins. Yuriko's healing factor could have saved her, if there had been any healing factor left. The only living part was her bone marrow, and that was forever contained within the metal confines of her skeletal structure.  
  
Past her was Pulsar, laying prone, half buried beneath the fallen ceiling. Had he really taken her life? Was life that temporary?  
  
Kurt didn't know what to feel. His student, his friend, part of the team he was the leader of was nothing more than another casualty in the grand scheme of things. He hated the grand scheme of things.  
  
He didn't notice that a prayer was rolling off his tongue, nor did he notice that Paige set him down against a piece of remaining wall. He was on an auto-pilot. Save the feelings for later. He had to get the others back to the mansion, it was his duty. And yet Liebchen was dead.  
  
The sun was starting to set over the scene of carnage.  
  
Out of breath, she came to a slow stop. She still felt the blades of grass touching her legs, but she couldn't see them. The world was enveloped in a white light, as if she was on a stage and spotlights that came from every direction, even the ground and sky, were beaming down on her. Strangely, she wondered if Shakespeare had had any near-death experiences. It would have explained his work if he got even half as far as she was.  
  
The pain was gone. It had left so subtlety that she hadn't cared. Just like they wouldn't care. They never had. Tolerated her, yes. And yet she had always been an outsider.  
  
A wave of rage swept over her. They would even dare to be happy she was gone, pleased to be rid of her.  
  
In a zealous rage she struck out at the lights ahead of her, whirled around and attacked behind her when she struck nothing. It wasn't fair! She had done no worse then the rest of them!  
  
Calming down, she closed her eyes.  
  
Gambit was intensely cycling through the stages of grief at an incredibly rapid rate. CPR had failed, Strobe's shock had failed, and he resorted to the senseless acts of a mad-man. He shook her, screamed at her, begged for her life, let hot tears streak clean trails down his dust- covered face. Nothing worked.  
  
"No! No! I won't let dis happen! No!" A pause in which he caught his breath and SheCat remained still. Reacting totally on instinct, he kissed her, passionately, then broke apart. "Dat's what you always wanted, right?! You didn't live for it! Weren't you gonna live for it?!"  
  
"Remy, it's over, stop it! There's nothing you can do! Please, stop it!" Rogue was worried now. She had never seen him this frantic, this possessed. She, herself, was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and she had barely known her. She could only imagine how he felt.  
  
"You saved my life, why can't I save yours?! Why you? Why did it have ta be you?" His voice became diminutive, and he held the figure in his arms closer. There was no reaction again. He cradled her body and rocked gently back and forth on his knees, softly whispering "No." to himself even though it was of no use. It had been a long time since she nursed him back to health after a particularly nasty encounter with Sabretooth. It had been a long time to get to know a girl, even one so cagey as she.  
  
SheCat gave out a low gasp. With her eyes closed, she could see what was happening across the barrier. She saw Kurt, tears down his face, saw Paige, who looked as if she was dead herself, with no spark behind her eyes, saw Strobe with her face covered, but saw the cracks between her fingers were still wet. Saw Julie, out of tears, still with her face buried in Kitty's shoulder, who's also succumbed to sobbing. Saw Rogue, dry-faced, filing her pain away in a secret section in her heart while comforting Remy. Sweet Remy, who was in a state beyond despair. If she was going to live for anything, it would be for him.  
  
She needed a way out. She needed to find a loophole. She needed...she didn't know what she needed, only what she wanted. She wanted to live.  
  
"No! You can't do this to me! I don't want to die anymore! I don't want to die!" She didn't know who she was screaming at. She just wanted to live, more than anything else.  
  
Tears running from her eyes, she started to run. This time with direction.  
  
"Remy, we must go now." Kurt's three-fingered hand joined Rogue's on Gambit's shoulder. Gambit flinched as if he'd been burned. It was nothing about Kurt, just the thought it being final. So that was it. Her death was final.  
  
Gambit picked her up, holding her as a groom holds a bride, and started carrying her towards the jet, asking no assistance and accepting none.  
  
Blades of grass whipped her legs as she ran, back to where she came from, back to where she landed. Her breath came in short, ragged gasps and her heart hurt as if someone had stuck a red-hot bar of metal right through it. She knew, as if it was a certain fact, that she had to get to where she landed, but the running was so hard. Her foot slammed toe-first into the ground and she stumbled forward, hit her hands and got up again. She had to make it. She had to live.  
  
But darkness was closing in on the field, now with visible plant- life. Her vision swam and she cried for help, knowing subconsciously none would hear. She stumbled again, heart breaking and bleeding, and got up one last time.  
  
Remy stood, foot at the edge of the ascending ramp, wondering how much grief he would cause the X-Men if he refused to return, if he continued to pursue some false hope that she might live. Slowly, reluctantly, he placed his foot on the ramp and began to go up, entered the jet, then heard a small choke sound from in his arms.  
  
SheCat gave another short cough and then a smile to the familiar face above her, then cried out a little when Remy hugged her as close as physically possible.  
  
"Augh! Gently, gently." She gasped, still wounded despite the fact she was alive. Living was painful, yes. She caught sight of Kurt, still tear-stained face, beaming at her, used his finger to wipe a lock of hair from her face. Strobe burst into tears again, but happy tears, as the others rejoiced. Remy was past words.  
  
"What's wrong?" She asked this in response to his wiping away a tear from his yellow-irised eye.  
  
"Nothing, Liebchen. Nothing now." 


	9. Epilogue

SheCat fainted on the way back to the mansion. Refusing to admit the pain to her friends was one thing, refusing to admit it to herself was an agony in itself. Blood loss and exhaustion took their toll, and she lost her consciousness halfway there.  
  
Kurt was piloting, being the only one besides Rogue not shaking or spazzing. He was probably breaking several rules of the Blackbird's safety with cloaking, but he knew the truth. He had to fly fast or Liebchen would die, and then it would not be some X-Jet to bring her home. It would be a coffin.  
  
Strobe returned to her habit of checking the batteries and fuel tank constantly, while Shadowcat co-piloted. Julie and Paige tried to make themselves useful by stemming SheCat's blood, but resulted in only a series of bloody bandages before realizing she would be better off without their treatment.  
  
Remy held her hand the entire way. She held his in turn, tighter than he thought possible for such a small person, like a child would squeeze a toy when getting a vaccine.  
  
"It hurt, chere?" Her eyes were slightly unfocused, and he knew she was trying desperately to see him straight. He wondered if her hearing was the same.  
  
"No, it doesn't hurt. I'm fine." It was a lie, and they both knew it.  
  
Rogue, positioned uselessly in the back of the jet, eyed the pair cautiously. She'd always assumed chere was Gambit's name for her, and her only. Though she knew that he had used it before, thrown it around to women before her, it had always been her mental title.  
  
A sweeping wave of jealousy swept over her. She knew she was being immature, yet she couldn't help it. She had seen him kiss SheCat, and she knew it was equal to anything he would have given her had her powers not gotten in the way.  
  
Maybe he was just a good kisser. Maybe love didn't matter in kisses.  
  
"Stop looking so worried, I'm not gonna die any second now." SheCat's grip lessened. Her eyes lost all remnant of focus, then closed. She was awake still, but struggling just to remain so.  
  
Remy ran his hand over her forehead, sweeping an untamable forelock of hair out of her eyes, feeling the raised scar over her eye. She smiled a little. He checked her pulse for the umpteenth time.  
  
They arrived a few minutes later, where Doctors McCoy and Grey were waiting. SheCat was in safe hands now, and for the first time since her capture, Remy breathed a sigh of relief. 


End file.
